Know the path you want to take
It would be great if I just knew what to do with this little business of mine. But whenever I get to wishin', I'm reminded of some wisdom from Alice in Wonderland of all places:
“If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.”
I have my own limitations and standards. I don't want to ruin this thing I love by making it into a 60-hour work week, hustling between the same handful of thrift stores. Or at least that's the assumption I'm working under now because it would be too tough to try it while holding down my current full-time gig.
Instead, I need to try something different. What exactly to try is easy; will it work isn't clear. Only one way to find out.
What I do know is if I want to build a full-time income, there is no getting around offering something people will pay for. Sounds simple, right? But besides reselling the actual goods, I have three different ideas for experimentation:
an email list
a youtube channel
an instagram community
I'm not quite sure how to spin any of these three growth experiments into actual revenue, but Kevin Kelly's 1,000 True Fans still gives me hope. In his iconic essay, the Wired founder explains that if you can find 1,000 True Fans, you can make a living. True Fans are not just casual Instagram likers, they are the people that buy everything you do. More importantly, Kelly wrote, "Yet if even only one out of million people were interested, that’s potentially 7,000 people on the planet. That means that any 1-in-a-million appeal can find 1,000 true fans. The trick is to practically find those fans, or more accurately, to have them find you."
What I'm trying to offer with my community is what makes reselling toys so much fun - clues to the mystery of it all. There is still gold to be found in the thrift store toy aisle, you just need to know what it is. I'm working to teach people faster how to identify the jackpot right in front of their face.
By the numbers
Spend: $355.78
Gross profit: $1,104.82 (vs. $1,091.74 last month)
Net profit: $749.04 (vs $784.74 last month)
Listed on eBay: 47 (68 last month)
eBay rating: 99.5%
What Sold
Highlights
I wanted three blog posts this month, I managed one: The FlipShark Guide to Reselling Hess Trucks. Honestly, it felt great to finally nail down some reselling rules for myself when it comes to one specific (but ongoing) line. Lessons learned. Onward and upward!
IG Boost
Some dedicated time and effort with Instagram delivered a nice boost this month. We're almost at 200 followers! I started the month with 157 followers on Instagram. With some regular effort, I made the leap to 194! And honestly, it's been nice to slowly make friends with some of these internet strangers. We're all learning from one another.
Started strong
The month started strong with two heavy sales - Tommy Hilfiger cologne and a large Heroscape set of pieces. I found the cologne a LONG time ago in a thrift store bag alongside a Calvin Klein bottle I still have sitting on my shelf. It has no top so I'm unsure what to do with it. This is an excellent example of why resellers have death piles. Things just hide in plain sight.
And I think these two larger sales made up for my less-than-normal listing. I only managed to put up less than 50 items, compared to last month's 68.
New rating
Also, I crossed the annual eBay threshold and my old negative reviews gave way to a better rating. I'm back to 99.5! I'm happy with this number and it makes me happy to know I can nail 100% one day in the future.
Early bird gets the worm
I didn't do too much garage sailing this month. Most Saturdays had some plans so my time was spoken for. But recently I had some unavoidable work duties on a Thursday so I shifted my thrifting day to Friday for once. I figured we could still go thrifting, but Fridays could open the door to other opportunities, like estate sales. What I easily found on Facebook Marketplace was a Greek Orthodox church's rummage sale. I'd be there before, not more than a few months into when I starred this whole reselling journey and I remember making out alright. This time was even better! I was focused on what I wanted, even when Ma and I arrived and there was a line of maybe 20 people ahead of us, baking in the summer sun. But as soon as we busted inside, I made a direct shot to the toys and games section. And I made out! I started digging through piles and boxes of old toys and throwing things in my bag. I'm no vintage toy connesuier but I recognized some He-man and A-Team pieces when they popped up. And I was double-convinced when another reseller stood over me and said, "Ah man, you found He-man!?" Yes, yes sir, I did. Us two and another guy picked clean the toy tables although I'm sure I walked away with the most value this time.
GI Joe Jackpot
One weekend this month, I had plans to drive about an hour away to see a hot air ballon festival. And since it was on the way I figured I'd make a slow go of it and stop at some of the usual thrift stores. And boy am I glad I did - I found a jam-packed bag of GI Joes (and one or two Dino Riders, tbd) for just $2.99. Every once and a while a cheap win finds it's way to the shelf and I was there to spot it.
Meeting Anthony, Kelsey
Fails
Just after selling the Hilfiger cologne and Heroscape set, I went upstate to visit my friend Jess and sales took a shot. I had to close the store since I'd be away for some time and the profits suffered. It was a slow start but it was totally worth it.
Hard to give away
Shark Week happened this month on Discovery Channel, so I figured I'd take advantage of some fun branding opportunities and make a giveaway or two. But after the mild success of the first one, I realized I'm not big enough to garner that attention yet. I offered a choice of DVD to the person who shares my post in their Instagram Story. A simple ask and a fun prize. But only a few of my closet SecretFormula friends participated, so I ended up scraping other plans and gave away DVDs to everyone.
Out of practice
Garage sales can sometimes be a bust. I must have been out of practice because one Saturday this month, I found myself in front of 2 different locations, realizing the sale wasn't that day, but probably a week before. Facebook Marketplace is a great way to find what's out there but it relies on people to take their posts down when it's all over.
Going forward
I can see three worthwhile experiments for building an audience of 1,000 True Fans - an email list, a youtube audience, and a strong Instagram presence.
The only way to start anything is to get going.
Email newsletter
To send emails, I need to first build a landing page to collect them. I have to write a welcome email and then get going writing every week. It's a pretty big commitment but I've done it before.
It might also be helpful to offer something else from the jump. Sure, resellers might sign up with the promise of weekly updates to learn more about toys, but it would be cool to give them something right away. My thought right now is two blog posts, a classic "Why bother learning about reselling toys?" and an eclectic gallery of toys (maybe in the astronomical ballpark of 200) to buy or not from the thrift store shelf.
Plenty of people think they know how to grow their Instagram audience. Maybe a fraction are right. I do know it was helpful this past month to start following others, but I need something more concrete, especially as the well runs dry with other strictly toy resellers.
What can I do? The simple answer is you need to keep following new people and sharing valuable content. It's not enough to just wish people will find you appealing. I think it would be helpful this month to show more of myself and my personality, as well as sharing others' success stories and tips. Why not build the community? That's the whole idea, right? We're meant to be learning here. Make it clear even if you don't do it yourself.
YouTube
Growing YouTube right now is pretty simple - just do it. I need to make videos. Before I do that, I need to make a nicer background. Don't worry about titles and thumbnails and sign-off sayings. Get back to being comfortable turning on the camera and letting it roll. People will watch. There is an audience and an appetite for hauls.
Flyers
Cherry on top - I want to try crafting some flyers to hang up locally. Why not ask people to sell me their stuff?
Lots of work to do - let's get going!
